Bear carving 'log to varnish' for Autism nonprofit

The public can witness the carving of a Black Bear Diner bear statue and help a nonprofit May 21, company officials announced.

"Our master wood carver, Ray Schulz, is doing this in seven cities in eight days; Vallejo is the third," spokesman Jairo Moncada said. "He brings two humongous logs with him, and starts carving them in the parking lot."

Each bear takes about three hours to make, he said.

"And you end up with a 400 pound custom carved bear," Moncada said. "We call it 'Chain-saw for Change.' We're partnering with several nonprofits; each franchisee picks a nonprofit. The action is to see the sawdust flying, and people are more than welcome to watch this amazing process from log to varnish, as we say."

People are encouraged to make a $5 donation in exchange for a raffle ticket to win a custom bear, Vallejo restaurant owner Celina Gonzalez said. The funds raised during the Vallejo event will go to Autism Speaks, Vallejo, she said.

"My youngest son is very high-functioning autistic," Gonzalez said. "It's been a challenge since he was diagnosed as a baby. We worked with him and he's going off to college, now, and we're very proud of him."

The bear-carving events are relatively new — the first one having been in Gonzalez's other Black Bear location in Milpitas two years ago — and are "just gaining traction," she said.

"(Ray Schulz) sets up in the parking lot and starts carving, and during the course of the day, we'll be selling tickets and there will be a drawing and the winner will be able to specify what they want the bear to look like," Gonzalez said. "He's amazingly fast. He can make it a welcome bear for their front door, or he can put their name on it, or whatever they want."

Winners will wind up with an approximately 5 feet tall wooden bear.

"In Milpitas, the winner was a member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and that's where (the bear) lives now," she said. "It can be a gift. It can grace an office, or decorate someone's back yard. We're hoping people will be supportive of this great cause, and they wind up with something really neat if they win the drawing."

Gonzalez said she hopes the people of Vallejo will stop by for the rare carving event.

"It's such a worthy cause and it's so special for me. Not only because of my son, but because autism is a social issue," she said. "There are people with different levels of difficulty with communication. They can go from, like, savants, to just socially quirky. The Black Bear Diner is about embracing community, reaching out to people, and that human interaction is so important to Black Bear, so this has a very special meaning for me."

One hundred percent of the event's proceeds benefit Autism Speaks Vallejo, a research and advocacy organization providing families with the tools to help their loved ones, officials said.

Call Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at 707-553-6824.

What: Chain-saw for Change, bear-carving demonstration and raffle

When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 21

Where: Vallejo's Black Bear Diner, 980 Admiral Callaghan Lane.

Suggested donation: $5 per ticket, or five for $20. No Black Bear Diner purchase is necessary. Winners do not have to be present to win.